There are over 12,000 kinds of ants throughout the world, all extremely interesting. The one we will now consider is particularly so in many ways. Some of the leaf-cutting ant colonies in Central and South America contain a million ants or more, and tons of soil are often dug by them while making such big nests with their many rooms.
This ant is not interested in seeds, fruit, or any kind of food except that which is made in its own home from pieces of green leaves, farmed and tended by them very carefully. Just getting these leaf pieces to the nest is a big project.
First, scouts are given the duty of finding a tree with the right kind of leaves and then marking out a trail to it with special odors. In ways provided by their Creator, they pass the word when this is done. Then workers, having sharp mandibles like the teeth of a saw, go to the tree, each selecting a suitable leaf and cutting out sections much larger than themselves. These they pass, one by one, to another worker which lifts it up over her head like a parasol, except that it stands upright. With this accomplished she joins hundreds of others walking in a single line back to the nest over the marked trail which may be 400 or 500 feet long (which would be like a person walking 20 miles with a heavy load). Usually they do this several times a night!
Under certain conditions pesky flies, that want to lay eggs in the carrier's body while it is occupied with its load, light on the piece of leaf, waiting for an opportunity to attack. But the ants prepare for this by sending along a tiny sister ant who hops aboard the leaf after it has been hoisted up, scurrying over it, front and back and top to bottom, all the way to the nest and chases away any flies that show up. On arrival, it hops down and returns to the tree to make a similar trip with another carrier ant.
We might ask, who taught these ants such amazing tricks? Or, for that matter, how did they learn to cut leaf sections and store them away for food? As the Bible verse above tells us the Lord God created the ants, just as He did all living things, and He gave them instincts distinguishing one kind from another that often amaze us. David, the psalmist, in thinking on these wonderful provisions, wrote: "The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honorable and glorious.... He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered." Psa. 111:2-42The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. 3His work is honorable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever. 4He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the Lord is gracious and full of compassion. (Psalm 111:2‑4).
When we look on all the wondrous things about us, let us always remember who it is that has made them.